Gallery: Backstage at Men's Fashion Week 2011

Singapore likes to be an early adopter of trends. 

Responding to the growth of the global menswear market, the Lion City will be the third city in the world -- after style capitals Paris and Milan -- to host Men's Fashion Week (MFW) from March 30 to April 3.

The event will combine international brands such as Emmanuel, Etro, Hugo Boss with regional fashion labels such Shanghai Tang (Hong Kong), DressCamp (Japan), G.I.L Homme (Korea), Issue (Thailand) and Raoul (Singapore).

It also aims to present Singapore as a hub of men's fashion.

“We can expect MFW 2011 to act as a platform in Asia for both local and international brands," says Jay-C Yeap, MFW 2011 Singapore director.

"We now have homegrown brands like Raoul beside international brands like Kenzo, Issey Miyake and Canali.

"It really demonstrates Asia honing this growing platform to international standards.”

Careful to put an Asian stamp on the festival, international supermodel Philip Huang was unveiled at last week's media preview as the face of MFW 2011.

The full-lipped model of Taiwanese-U.S. heritage has graced the runways of Paris, Milan and New York and has appeared in ad campaigns for Gucci, John Galiano and Dolce & Gabbana.

Local celebrity Julian Hee and MTV VJ Utt will also add Asian face value to MFW 2011.

On call will be Zhang Ziyi approved hair stylist David Gan, who will be working to accentuate the latest “blow-dried and seemingly effortless” hair trends.

While the menswear industry is still a long way off from the women's market, Yeap has high hopes for the event.

“We hope that this will be more than just an annual event, we look to broaden the scope and variety -- working across music and beauty platforms -- to create a more credible fashion hub here in Singapore.”